AMST 201: Fans, Users, and Gamers

From celebrities publicly calling themselves fans of TV shows to the mockery heaped on the “Trekkie,” from people who game for a living to the #GamerGate controversy, from Instagramming your lunch to the nearly $12.5 billion Facebook made last year, the ways people consume and use popular media in the U.S. is at the heart of the contemporary world. This course provides an accessible introduction to fans, users, and gamers as interrelated cultural phenomena, combining the most current of topics with historical context on how they developed. Participants will learn to analyze the role of gender, sexuality, race, law, economics, technology, and other social structures impact how fans, users, and gamers engage with media, gaining insight on their own practices and culture at large.

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Fans and Gamers react to change

Gender politics is always a very touchy topic, whether you’re talking with a group of self-proclaimed feminists that believe that men are poison or a bunch of equalitarians who just want all the labels to disappear, there will be disagreements from person to person on the topic of gender rights, biases, and inequality. The atmosphere within the fan fiction forums for Fifty Shades of Gray was very different than the negativity revolving the Ji Firepaw debate.

Andrea Braithwaite discusses this issue in her article "'Seriously, Get out': Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women" and explains her viewpoint on the gender-biased debate about a particular character named Ji Firepaw and lines he has during the game. The character was edited after a large amount of comments from forum users, and this was met with enormous uproar and backlash from the gaming community.

On the fan fiction forums for Fifty Shades of Gray, a different story is being typed and posted. Fans create original material which is then reworked and republished by different users of the forums. Fans are very particular about what they believe to be legitimate "fanfic" compared to just compiled stories and unoriginal ideas. When work is compiled and a story is created, there is always backlash from within the fan community about the credit given and work cited, and no fandom is more familiar with this concept than that of Fifty Shades of Gray.

While these are two different situations, it is possible to look at the different reactions looking at the cause. Both situations are about content editing. Whether it is creation or causation that prompts the edit, in each situation a user or moderator changes something within the community and elicits a massive response. Even though the cause of the reaction was very different, it prompted the same type of response from a lot of users. These two responses are easy to look as similar due to this similarity in response, however in reality these situations are caused by very different ideas. The Fifty Shades of Gray fandom was based on the way a group of people expressed their creativity. They had become accustomed to a particular way things worked and they did not want that to change. The nature of the gender biasing towards women during the Ji Firepaw debate was a very different story.

These cases outline an important point in the ever changing environment of the internet and the overall fandom community. They show how change can be resisted heavily for all sorts of reasons, regardless of the cause or source. It is always important to remember how even though change is thought of as negative, it can often open doors to progressive ideas and new levels of equality. While things like gaming stereotyping genders or "real fan fiction" may begin to disappear, new concepts lacking gender biases or author prejudice may emerge.

Braithwaite, Andrea. 2014. “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” New Media & Society 16 (5): 703–18. doi:10.1177/1461444813489503.

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What is Modern Childhood?

When an old timer hears the name Atari, they go back to a time of nostalgia with family fun.  The Atari was packaged as a family entertainment system, but, in the new era of Nintendo, gaming systems shifted away from a family-orientation.  They became a whole industry marketed towards children.  With this unfamiliar generation of youth, a new childhood was born.  This dawns the question; what is modern childhood?

Lien writes about a young girl’s experience in the girls’ toy aisle where she questions companies’ marketing strategies.  The girl argues, “Girls want superheros  AND the boys want superheros...Boys and girls can both like pink...Why do companies have to make boys and girls think that they can only like certain things?”  Throughout Lien’s article, she discusses the biggest problem facing modern childhood is gender stereotyping.  “The Nintendo Entertainment System was targeted toward boys under 10. If you look at the Super NES five years later, it starts targeting boys ages 10-15.”  She also describes the bias of the video game section and how it defines our “cultural stereotype” of video game players mostly consisting of males.

Narine and Grimes would disagree to this stereotype solely based on their research.  “Studies asserting the positive ‘‘effects’’ of digital gameplay continue to accumulate, whereas attempts to capture the ‘‘girl gamer’’ persist, and may be paying off; recent studies suggest that girls and women now comprise 40% of all gamers.”  Though these female gamers do not necessarily contribute to the console game system population, they do entertain themselves with more mobile games such as Candy Crush, or Facebook games (Narine, 2009).  

They would, however, say that what defines modern childhood are social stereotypes.  The two stereotypes visited by Narine and Grimes in their research are: “cyberchild” gaining professional success through gaming, while others are likely to fall into “sedentary lifestyles.”  The idea that childhood gaming could lead to professional skills is supported when they discuss gaming increasing in popularity as a profession: “The professionalization of gaming itself in Korea and increasingly the United States...further cements the appealing possibility that children’s play can one day become their work.”  But, they also contradict this stereotype with another extreme when they state, “concerns about children and digital games have expanded in the 21st century to include issues of social isolation, attention deficit, and depressive disorders.”  Their paper later provides claims of video games leading to “rising ‘sedentary lifestyles’...and child obesity rates.”  In the end, Narine and Grimes believe video games should just be looked at as an outlet and not as something to define a generation.  “The suggestion that children’s leisure must always be future-focused and productive devalues potentially meaningful activities as wasteful. It also dismisses a key facet of children’s gaming experience, and suppresses the value that parents and families place on children’s fun and entertainment” (Narine, 2009).

So, what is modern childhood?  Lien would say it is defined by gender stereotypes based on current bias of company video game marketing strategies.  Narine and Grimes would disagree based on the fact that 40% of all gamers are female.  They would also say that modern childhood is defined by social stereotypes of furthering your professional skills or developing a sedentary lifestyle.  

Resources:

Narine, N., & Grimes, S. M. (2009). “The Turbulent Rise of the ‘Child Gamer’: Public Fears and Corporate Promises in Cinematic and Promotional Depictions of Children’s Digital Play.” Communication, Culture & Critique 2 (3): 319–38. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1753-9137.2009.01040.x/abstract

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FanFiction and WoW: Different Issues, Same Resolution

           In Braithwaite’s article, “’Seriously, get out’: Feminists on the forums and the War(craft) on women,” Braithwaite examines the gender struggle among players that play and critique World of Warcraft, in particular. In the article, she specifically calls attention to the reception of one character to female players and that the character comes off as being sexist, in both comments and actions. The most interesting part is that the struggle arose due to online forums and chats between players, something similar to the case among fans when Fifty Shades of Gray arose from FanFiction.net. The situation regarding gender struggle policing of World of Warcraft and the situation of policing fan fiction by fans are very similar, despite the somewhat different forms media, because in both situations, the people playing the game or reading the work are determining what is acceptable for future forms of media.

           One example of the fans essentially remaking the media into something they are willing to accept is the reformation of Firepaw. At first, his comments could be read as sexist, referring to the female character as gorgeous rather than some other, non-female adjective. After the players argued that he was being sexist and complained about the dialogue, the programmers were quick to remake the dialogue into something that would be seen as less objectionable, such as “confident” rather than “gorgeous.” It is only because the players brought the issue up and enough people agreed with the complaint that the programmers settled the issue and made the dialogue more agreeable. The same can be said for fan fiction authors and their fans. When Fifty Shades of Gray was being published on FanFiction.net, the reviewers had a say in what they wanted to see in the next chapter and so almost helped write the story, in a way. Once E. L. James took it from FanFiction.net and published it as a book series, the fans no longer had a say in what was being published, although the story was either entirely written or mostly written by that point. However, when it became common knowledge to the users on FanFiction.net that James was obscuring the books’ origins on the site and refusing to give credit to the reviewers, conflict arose and people on the site began to settle the issue on their own. Now on FanFiction.net, authors have begun to credit anyone that helped them write their story, including reviewers that helped ideas move along. The fans themselves determine what is seen as “real fanfiction,” which is typically stories that have origins from some published fandom (i.e. Twilight, Harry Potter, Naruto, etc.) and have been extended into some realm that the fanfiction author decides to explore. “Real” fanfiction is not published for financial gain but rather as a creative outlet for the author and a new adventure for the reader. James violated that understanding by publishing her work for money and not crediting the fans that helped her with her work.

           The two situations are different in that the programmers of WoW listened to their players and worked to try to resolve the issue and James essentially ignored her fans after she received what she wanted from them. However, in both situations, it is the fans or gamers of said media that resolved their own issues. The players of WoW wanted different dialogue because they had an issue with the way the characters were perceived. The fanfiction fans were upset with James and led to creating standards for “real” fanfiction that has further led to more stringent practices on FanFiction.net. The problems in both scenarios were resolved due to the actions of the individuals interested in the media rather than the publisher of said media even realizing there was a problem in the first place.

Braithwaite, Andrea. 2014. “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” New Media & Society 16 (5): 703–18. doi:10.1177/1461444813489503.

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Are they all caused by stereotypes?

We have talked a lot about the sexism problems during the Module of Gamers in our class. For example, we discussed about how are female players treated unfairly and underrated by both the game factories and the player community in this industry. We have also read many journals which were trying to debunk the myths and upgrade our old cognition of the gaming industry. Now I would like to compare Tracey Lien’s and Amanda Marcotte’s ideas on the sexism stereotypes of video games.

 Lien uses the viewing angle from a four-year-old girl to tell us about the actual situation of the retailing for video games. According to Riley (the imaginary girl)’s observation, “most ‘girls' sections," if they exist, are lined with fitness titles and Ubisoft's simplified career simulation series, Imagine, which lets players pretend they're doctors, teachers, gymnasts and babysitters. (Lien, 2013)” This kind of role-play games have obvious similarities: they are all mild, easy to operate, having a slow pace and usually a weak sense of competition. Under these conditions, girls may lose a lot of chances to have fun and excitements like boys from video games—since actually all the other sections are for boys! Boys never need to worry about the monotone and vapidity of game species because their interests are rarely zoomed out by tags in this industry. The partition of selling video games that only give girls very few options is a reflection of stereotype. Lien wants to claim that actually girls have the same desire on video games as boys do.

 Marcotte is having a lot agreement with Lien since the title of her article is “Teen Girls Love Video Games, but They’re Really Quiet About It.” She mentions that teenagers of both genders play many games and a lot of varied species of games (Marcotte, 2015). Although the proportion of gamers in girls and gamers in boys still has its disparity, it’s already clear that girls are really noticeable as an important crows of customers to video games. To this extent, at least these two authors are talking about the same words that video game companies should pay enough attention to girls. But divergences come with details when Marcotte starts to talk about how boys and girls play game in different ways: “Even though the stereotype is that it’s girls who are always chattering with friends on digital devices, researchers found that boys were far more likely than girls to put gaming at the center of their social lives. (Marcotte, 2015)” While we are criticizing stereotypes, we should also admit that the style for boys and girls to treat video games are usually different. Relatively, boys are more likely to share their handles with their friends and use voice chatting systems to contact with teammates no matter with whether they know each other in the real world. It might because that boys are less shy and can enjoy more in the feeling of competition and wars. Thus the division of games are reasonable to some extent.

 In my opinion, both Lien and Marcotte are telling about truth and problems which are contained by the gaming industry nowadays. But Marcotte’s article seems to be more impersonal and comprehensive on this topic. It’s necessary to avoid sexism stereotypes when playing games, and we should also be aware of the existence of differences in preferences between genders.

Reference

Lien, Tracey. 2013. “No Girls Allowed: Unraveling the Story behind the Stereotype of Video Games Being for Boys.” Polygon. http://www.polygon.com/ features/2013/12/2/5143856/no-girls-allowed.p3lZ����

Marcotte, Amanda. 2015. “Teen Girls Love Video Games, but They’re Really Quiet About It.” Slate, August 18. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/08 /18/teen_girls_play_video_games_but_they_minimize_their_contact_with_other_players.html. RStywnc�����

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Is that wrong to target men as main game customer?

The stereotype that most of girls do not like video games has become an inflexible impression in most of people’s mind. More and more people are talking and caring the girl’s position in video games. Some people argued that “Girls are gamer and why markers do not target on girls?” But for my personal view, I think this doesn’t have to be an argument. Different games target on different people. These are 4 reason to explain it.

First, the majority gamers are man in United states. According to Colin Campbell, “56 percent of players are male. 44 percent are female. Of the most frequent game purchasers, 41 percent are female and 59 percent are male.” For the numerical status, male players are more than female players. Obviously, marker should focus on majority group of people no matter what gender it is. For example, most of clothes targeting on women. Once we go to a big H.M shop, if there are three floors in one shop, two of them will be woman’s clothes. And also the posters in shops are more focusing on women than man. This is a macro view of marketing. But this view has lack of analyzing of game itself.

Second, once we are going to analyze the game itself, we will find that the marker also focuses on girls. Although Romanno argue that “So what games have women been playing all these years, now that we know they haven't just been wasting time trying to get their Facebook friends to give them free lives on Candy Crush?”. It is undeniable that female players are the majority group of mobile games. Most of girls like the cute and fancy stuff such as the candy crush frog and Bejeweled. For these games’ makers, they definitely focus on girls as their customers. The violent and killing game like Call of Duty would not focus on girls. The reason people think the markers target on man is because Call of Duty has more advertisement on public platform than the Candy Crush which does not mean makers do not target on girls.

Third, more male would like to talk about video games than girls do. Amanda said, “Video games, for boys, are a social activity, but for most girls, gaming is a solitary pursuit.” Boys talk about games to others is a natural way for advertising with a free cost. Once a boy saw the advertisement of a new game, he would like to share the information to his friends. This reduce the cost of advertising the game to others. But a girl would barely talk about games with her friends. This become a marketing problem. if you can spend 1 dollar affect 2 boys, will you spend another dollar to affect just 1 girl who has a lower chance to be your customer?

The last point I want to mention is, Braithwaite talk about feminists on forums. They care too much about some “offensive” words in games. The game has different characters and they have different personality. This is not a   discrimination or stereotype of woman. I think there are more and more offensive word for man but most of man players do not care it too much.

All in all, I think most of markers target on  man is not a problem. As i mentioned on twitter, i think different people likes different things. This is human nature. Of course different gender have to be different.

Reference

Campbell, Colin. 2015. “Here’s How Many People Are Playing Games in America.” Polygon. April 14. http://www.polygon.com/2015/4/14/8415611/gaming-stats-2015.

Romano, Aja. 2014. “Adult Women Are Now the Largest Demographic in Gaming.” The Daily Dot. http://www.dailydot.com/geek/adult-women-largest-gaming-demographic/.

Marcotte, Amanda. 2015. “Teen Girls Love Video Games, but They’re Really Quiet About It.” Slate, August 18. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/08/18/teen_girls_play_video_games_but_they_minimize_their_contact_with_other_players.html.

Braithwaite, Andrea. 2014. “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” New Media & Society 16 (5): 703–18. doi:10.1177/1461444813489503.

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Loyalty Sustains Fandoms

Those who identify within fandoms all see one common goal: to preserve their respective fandoms in that their existence will not be consumed by their own flaws. Whether it be stereotypes, negative exposure, or any sort of adverse activity, fans will put forth their greatest effort to maintain high regard for their fandom in the eyes of the public. The public eye is what sustains a fandom; it determines the spotlight that is brought upon the fandom. Both the women gamer and fan fiction communities have seen their fair share of misfortune due to various negative influences. It is the passionate fans within each fandom is what allows the fandoms to survive and flourish, no matter how much adversity they have faced.

The uproar that followed 50 Shades of Grey was indisputable in its existence, but its legitimacy and relevancy diminished as millions of people purchased their own copies of the novel. The fan fiction community was bonded by a set of “unwritten rules,” and author E.L. James not only broke a major rule, but utilized it to the tune of $58 million, according to The Guardian. The fan fiction community was exploited for its content and various talents. This sent the entire community into outrage over various legal issues, in addition to the boundaries that were clearly crossed by James. These fans spent time voicing their opinions, not because they wanted compensation, but because they felt as though the sanctity of their community was undermined. Fans truly want the best for their respective fandom, and are willing to assert their message to maintain the best for their fandom. In a fan’s comment located within a piece by writer Bethan Jones, it states “I cannot imagine ever taking one of my fan fics and rewriting it as original fiction… Not because I am afraid that I would be breaking copyright—I'm pretty confident I could do a good enough job of the rewriting to avoid that—but because I would be breaking the trust of my fannish readers. Those were the people for whom I wrote, the people who loved the same fandoms I did and wanted more from them.” These people truly care more for the passion for the fandom than luxuries like money.

Both feminists and gamers face plenty of adversity within their fandoms, but when they are combined, a storm of hate is bound to follow. Enter Anita Sarkeesian, a media critic who decided to combine her feminism and love for video games to help create a more positive picture for women gamers. Women gamers have faced a great deal of affliction since video games have risen in popularity, and assumed a large role in pop culture. Even though adult women are now the largest demographic in video games, according to Entertainment Software Association, they still face constant critique and abuse by men gamers. Sarkeesian recognized this debilitating issue, and has put forth effort to try to give women gamers some momentum. Aside from Sarkeesian, women have tried, and continue to try, to assert themselves within the gaming community by speaking up to those who matter. When a sexist remark was identified in World of Warcraft, women spoke up, and it was soon changed. Women gamers, just like every other fandom, is not afraid to speak up and take action to maintain the sanctity of their fandom.

Fans devote their time, effort, and money into something that they are truly passionate about. Though not everyone sees the appeal in dressing up like anthropomorphic animals, or investing their time into a serious about vampires or wizards, those who are feel enough lust for their hobbies that they are willing to fight for what they truly enjoy. Fans devote their time to their fandom because they don’t want it being set aflame by some sexist remarks or disloyal fans. Regardless of how much turmoil fandoms face, it is the passion and devotion of the fans that truly keeps them afloat.

http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/501/422

http://www.wired.com/2012/06/anita-sarkeesian-feminist-games/

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-el-james-worth-58-million-20150629-story.html

http://www.dailydot.com/geek/adult-women-largest-gaming-demographic/

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Unfair Stereotypes

People are stereotyped everyday. People are judged by what they wear, what they like, or maybe even who they hang out with. But, there are groups of individuals that may be judged more than others and two of those groups are fans and gamers. In the 1997 documentary Trekkies, a camera crew follows the lives of Star Trek fans. They show the extent of their fandom by what they own such as uniforms/costumes, action figures, and posters. They show their love for the show in many ways in which are captured on film. In the reading “The Turbulent Rise of the ‘‘Child Gamer’’: Public Fears and Corporate Promises in Cinematic and Promotional Depictions of Children’s Digital Play,” Narine and Grimes go in depth about the stereotypes of gamers where children are seen to either be violent or have bright futures or where girls are expected to only like games with pink, fashion, or involve pets.

In the movie “Trekkies,” film makers show Star Trek fans and the extremes they go to in order to show their love for the show. Fans had costumes, action figures, some even had a room designated for Star Trek items only. There were fans who wore a Star Trek uniform when they went out. Some also attended conventions and spent thousands of dollars on items from the show that were auctioned off. This movie showed many fans who were die-hard Star Trek lovers. These fans believed there wasn’t anything better than Star Trek. Fans know that they are stereotyped and judged by other individuals. But, this doesn’t stop them from loving the show or expressing their fandom.

In the article “The Turbulent Rise of the ‘‘Child Gamer’’: Public Fears and Corporate Promises in Cinematic and Promotional Depictions of Children’s Digital Play,” Narine and Grimes elaborate on gaming stereotypes and the fears many have about gaming. One of the stereotypes mentioned was as follows: “…young gamers are either idle, delinquent, and/or violent, or ingenious, naturally adept cyber children with bright futures in the Information Economy.” People view gamers as those who are more engaged with the console than life. Gaming consoles are seen as “bad” devices and gambling machines. In this respect, those who play games are seen as violet, different, and unsocial.

The movie Trekkies and the authors of the article “The Turbulent Rise of the ‘‘Child Gamer’’: Public Fears and Corporate Promises in Cinematic and Promotional Depictions of Children’s Digital Play,” Narine and Grimes, would agree with each other that both groups are stereotyped unfairly. Star Trek fans express love of a show in healthy ways such as collecting items and wearing uniforms. Gamers express the love of video games by playing and conquering all the levels developed in games. Both groups are falsely stereotyped by doing the things they love.

Narine, Neil, and Sara M. Grimes. 2009. “The Turbulent Rise of the ‘Child Gamer’: Public Fears and Corporate Promises in Cinematic and Promotional Depictions of Children’s Digital Play.” Communication, Culture & Critique 2 (3): 319–38. doi:10.1111/j.1753-9137.2009.01040.x.

Nygard, R. (Director). (1997). Trekkies [Motion picture on DVD].

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Not Everything’s Worth the Fight

               With power comes responsibility, and in today’s society, fame goes hand in hand with power. However, how often do we hear of power falling into unjust hands? Quite often, many would argue. With the help of the internet and social media, where the outrage over unjust use of fame, power, and money can become viral and heard worldwide. Any individual can have a loud voice in controversial situations – situations such as Braithwaite’s discussion on the feminist changes on World of Warcraft’s (WoW) character Ji Firepaw, and fan outcry over fan fiction rights in Fifty Shades of Grey. Although both topics involve fans’ dissatisfactions regarding their subject, one being a game and the other being a book, the problems discussed about WoW are dissimilar from those mentioned about Fifty Shades.

               The biggest criticism involving Fifty Shades was it was taking fan work, produced within a gift economy, and commercializing it. The concept of a gift economy is a huge part of the foundation of what it means to be part of a fandom. “Fans do not simply upload art, fic, or vids; they also beta read each other’s work, correspond with readers . . . in discussion forums. These activities work to foster a sense of community within fandom” (Jones). E. L. James completely violated this deeply imbedded culture within the fandom community and hurt a lot of people, emotionally and financially, for her own gain. If E. L. James had written all of the content herself, then, by a stroke of luck, published it, then she deserves every penny that has fallen into her pocket. However, this was not the case. James abused the gift economy and the giving efforts of her fellow Twilight fans. Her fans helped revise, edit and widely promote her piece. Yet not even a word of credit was uttered from James, who instead opted to turn a blind eye onto those who contributed to her fame nearly as much as she did herself. “E. L James has used and taken advantage of Twilight fandom . . . when you are writing a [fan fic], no profit should be made from it because that is taking advantage and using a fanbase to get a step up” (Jones). The members of the Twilight fandom are outraged over the exploitation of their hard work and the harsh violation of their culture – and they deserve to be angry.

               The fans of World of Warcraft, however, are upset about something not quite so black and white. Braithwaite focuses on one of the NPCs (none playable character) in the game – a perhaps “overly friendly” guy named Ji Firepaw (Braithwaite). The debate started over the greeting Firepaw gives the player, which involves objectifying the female character, while the compliments for the male character are less offensive. Fans argued that this is demeaning towards women and that the virtual reality is closely tied to the unequal treatment of women in the real world. Many agree with this argument, but not all the way. The similarity between the virtual reality and the real world is larger than most would like to admit. Braithwaite states that “games are far from separate spaces, but rather are firmly embedded within everyday ideologies of gender, power and privilege”. However, many counter with the fact that, while sexism is real, both in-game and out, the issue regarding Ji Firepaw is simply too small to be argued so much over. Even within WoW, there are bigger and more problematic examples of misogyny. Those against Ji Firepaw are called “hobby feminists” who care more about trivial cases like this over bigger, more imminent problems that feminists ought to fight for. In comparison to the Twilight fandom and Jones’ argument, the Ji Firepaw situation seems to hold less firepower – pun intended.  

               Online forums are a great place for good discussion to happen, but not all of them are always worth the fight. The case of Ji Firepaw brings up a good point – that sexism and misogyny in video games is a very real thing. But, it just wasn’t the best example to be brought out, whereas the issue with E. L. James and her exploitation of the Twilight fandom was a great example of a problem that needed to be brought to light, and hopefully solved. Anger over a sentence, verses anger over millions of dollars essentially stolen, just aren’t the same. Not everything is worth fighting over.

Citations:

Braithwaite, Andrea. 2014. “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” New Media & Society 16 (5): 703–18. doi:10.1177/1461444813489503.

Fifty shades of exploitation: Fan labor and Fifty Shades of Grey By Bethan Jones: 

http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/501/422

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Video games were designed for all people.

By comparing the two articles, feminist take on the games draws crude ridicule and adult women are now the largest demographic in gaming. I found that the two articles have some differences and similarities. But the both articles impressed me and shocked me.

In the article of games draws crude ridicule, the author mentioned that many people gave negative responses to the Youtuber, obviously, most people are males. From my perspective, the woman who posts video is really good, because her original goal is to benefit female gamers. But she became increasingly popular, many people started to attack her. In the article of adult women are now the largest demographic in the gaming. I really shocked by the number and statistic in this article. I define myself as a feminist, but I always believe that the male gamers are the largest proportion in the whole gamer group. Moreover, young teenagers are the biggest part of people to play video games. However, the truth is that adults are more likely to play video gamers and female gamers are higher than male gamers. These two articles are different because their contents are different.

        However, the articles are different, but both of the two articles indicate the gender inequality and gender stereotypes in this society. In the first article, many people leave negative comment on the woman’s youtube channel. Most negative comments mentioned that women should work for family and should stay at home or chicken. Some people even use some dirty words on the comments. They are not respect to Anita and of course they are also not respecting other females. In the second articles, the author gave us the truth of gamer’s proportion. The fact is the adult women are the largest demographic in gaming, I believe that many people were shocked by this fact just like me. Moreover, adult gamers are much more than teenager gamers. By comparing these two articles, I realized that people have a common stereotype is that it is common for man to play video games, and women should not play it and have other things to do. In the first article, people do not think girl should play video games instead of work for her family. In the second article, people think man must be the biggest role in video games. however, women have the rights to play and to do what they want to do. The games are not designed only for males, many females also love to play games, and we can clearly see this fact in the statistical data. But because of the social stereotype, they probably cannot play video games as decent and apparent as males.

        In a nutshell, I believe that video games are attractive for both males and females. Therefore, women and men can play video games if they want. Men should not require women can only stay at chicken or somewhere else, and women should realize that there is nothing wrong for them to play video games.

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Fans Want Equality

Although almost all people are fans on something, whether it’s a music group or a pop culture artist. We, as a society, do not think a person is strange when we see that they are fans of a singer on the American Top 40 or when we see a die-hard fan of the Lakers. Society tends to think a little differently when people are fans of Star Trek or gamers. Grimes and Narnine’s article shines the light on child gamers and titles they are given, which include; “productive leisure, wasted time, the cyberchild, and the child at risk”. Narine and Grimes also bring to our attention that gamers can be classified by gender and ages as to how they are portrayed in the media. The article shares that there is a strong and obvious bias with aiming games to males; females are simply absent in marketing. With almost all fandoms, there can also be a fear of obsession and not being able to be aware of the difference between fiction and realty. Narine and Grimes touch upon the fear that gamer might take the game too seriously. The example provided in text is the connection between the Columbine shooters and videogames. Could the video games influence the players so much, they thought they were still in a game when they took action.

In many similar ways Star Trek fans are depicted in the same way. In the documentary Trekkies many Star Trek fans had trouble separating their personal lives apart from their fiction world of fandom. One fan in particular even decorated his dental clinic with Star Trek props. Many fans even had trouble separating their reality from their perception. A less extreme example of the Columbine shooters being influenced by their video game is Star Trek fans driving an automobile inspired from a transportation device from Star Trek.

Trekkies, the movie, and Grimes and Narine’s article both depict the stereotypes of Star Trek fans and gamers as being “strange” or out of the ordinary. Both groups of fans are facing criticism more than most fan groups, although they share the same fandom as everyone else and their media of choice.

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Trekkies > Gamers

The discussion by Narine and Grimes on stereotypes and fears about gamers doesn’t quite line up with the stereotypes that were introduced about fans in Trekkies. Where trekkies were seen as very geeky and obsessed, gamers were portrayed as violent and addicted. These two negative sides are rather different in their portrayals, but the positive sides aren’t much different; trekkies were shown as intelligent and tech savvy and gamers were shown in a similar light, with the only real source of positive outlook being with computers, but the representation of the tech savviness of gamers was shown in delinquency, unlike the that of trekkies who were shown to work in stable, technical jobs. The portrayals of the two groups have similarities, but are different.

The negative aspects of the portrayals of trekkies and gamers are different. In Trekkies, fans are seen as geeks. This is shown in their goofy nature, and appearance in some cases, and their social awkwardness. The fans are shown mostly in their cosplay attire, and one fan is highlighted for his acute detail in his uniform which is explained in length to the viewer, down to padding and stitching techniques. Throughout the documentary, fans are interviewed and discuss their love for the show and characters, but the obsessive side of the fandom is also shown. There are a number of fans that don’t just wear their cosplay attire to shows, but in standard walks of life. One such fan is referred to by “Commander,” as her favored persona is that of the show’s ship commanders. This portrayal differs from that of gamers. Gamers have been portrayed as violent and addicted to playing games. Arcade games were often found in locales that weren’t suited for children, at the start, but even after they’d moved to more suitable locations, a negative stigma blighted them. Once these games became more common in socially acceptable areas, they were targeted again as violence inducing activities based on the subject matter of the games, or even just by their title. Narine and Grimes noted the concerns and fears of parents and the media as games became more violent. One of the filmographic portrayals of gamers was done by Emilio Estevez as J. J. Cooney in Nightmares (1983). In the movie, J. J. becomes extremely addicted to a video game called Nightmares; to the point that he ends up sneaking out and breaking into the arcade to play. This scene also highlights the addicting portion of the portrayal of games and the afflicted gamers. These differences are pretty stark with the geeky obsessions of fans and the violent addictions of gamers.

The similarities between the more positive aspects of these two groups are closer, but still contrast. Trekkies and gamers are both shown as intelligent and tech savvy in the Trekkies film and Narine and Grimes’ works, but the difference in the depictions of these two groups grows from there. Trekkies are shown to be productive and stable in their jobs as engineers, technicians, dentists, and so on. Opposite that, are gamers; whose portrayal is of delinquents that use their technical skills for somewhat nefarious purposes, e.g. using a computer to hack an ATM and steal money that would be used to play arcade games. While the more positive side of the portrayal of these two groups is similar in that they are shown as technically capable, their uses of those skills are shown as polar opposites.

The portrayals of fans and gamers differ in the contexts of Trekkies and Narine and Grimes’ work. Fans are shown as geeky and obsessive, but still contributing members of society. Gamers are shown in a deleterious light, as their violent addictions drive them to commit crimes to perpetuate their addiction. These groups are similar but their representations in these two texts challenges that.

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Quit Playing Games

          In the documentary Trekkies, we are given a glimpse of what it is like to be a give all star trek fan. We learn that star trek fans are nicknamed Trekkies. We follow around an absolute die-hard star trek fan. Throughout the film, we learn of some of the stereotypes that trekkies are given. Additionally, we can take a look at gamers, specifically, gaming among youth. Niel Narine and Sara M. Grimes discuss the stereotypes given to children gamers. Both of these fandoms have relatively similar stereotypes.

          Trekkies are often generalized as people who spend most of their time indoors, nerdy, and strange. They are looked at as people who devote their entire life to star trek. They are usually stereotyped as people who spend time reading online star trek forums, attending star trek conventions, and dressing as their favorite characters. In reality, these stereotypes can be dispelled due to popular shows like Parks and Recreation, where the character Ben Wyatt is a normal, functioning citizen. Although he does love Star Trek, he does not attend Star Trek conventions. Star Trek fans are generalized as people who have no life and are able to afford spending every moment dedicated their life to the series.

          Niel Narine and Sara M. Grimes gives us a look at the stereotypes surround gamers, specifically, children gamers. Children gamers are stereotyped as children who are lazy, unintelligent, and strange. They are looked at as people who spend all day and night with their eyes glued to the TV monitor, not moving a muscle. But, why is it that we are always telling children to play outside or be active? Yes, physical activity is very important for growth and health, however video games can stimulate intelligence. There are so many different video games that help children learn, and not just educational games. There are games that teach strategy. In the 1980’s, parent-teacher societies decided that children who are video game players are experiencing aggressive behavior because of video games. We may be forgetting the fact that aggressive behavior could be in response to divorce, at home violence, and bullying. In the movie Nightmare, a teenaged by is characterized as someone who is obsessed with videogames, and exhibits violent behavior and his focus started to deter from school to video games. But again, I say that this behavior could have been sparked by at home involvements. In addition to these steretypes, children gamers are also looked at as children who would grow into violent adults. People that form these generalizations often forget that children paying these video games are also learning. Grimes and Narine conclude that children are simply being children. Why does kids’ enjoyment has to be focused on their future? Why must they play educational online spelling games? Children must be children who spend their time expanding their imagination.

          Both of these stereotypes are relatively similar. They both get viewed as lazy and strange. They are both people who would supposedly dedicate their life to their fandom. However, in reality, both of these fans are intelligent people who are not lazy and strange. Some people are very big music fans, however one would never think a person being a die-hard music fan is ever weird; it is very different for other fandoms.

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Gender Inequity in Games

Nowadays, people gradually change the attitude towards video games. Video game is no longer merely a way to kill time, it gradually become an industry, a sports, a kind of arts. The quality of video games become more and more incredible; the story setting of video games are no less fascinating than movies and TV shows; and recently, Esport may join 2020 Olympics, which include League of legends, Dota 2 and other games. But, the problem is with the continue developing of Video Game, a serious imbalance between genders were continue growth without any improving. So, in this paper, I would like to make a summary about Amanda Marcotte and Braithwaite’s work, and make an analysis about it.

According to Marcotee, more boys between 13 to 17 paly games than girls; there is a moderate gap between two genders. Also, they play different games，boys play more video games also they would more likely play with someone in internet, which they do not know in real life. Controversy, girls are more likely play some mobile games and don’t play with someone they don't know in the real life. Also, boy tend to regard game as kind of social activity, and girls are like an intrinsic activity. From my humble opinion, this phenomenon caused by the difference between both of genders. Boys are more extroversive toward game, because they like to maintain a kind of objective thinking, they enjoy the process of the game, they could develop social relationship with other who maintain same play style, which is associated with their own personality. But girls more likely to maintain an emotional thinking, and the games are merely the vehicle of emotion, and also the emotional linkage is less likely to develop with someone they are not already know in real life. I think that cause that kind of problem, and significant limited the market of video game industry.

In the Braithwaite’s work, she took a different approach towards this issue. In her paper “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” She use a perfect example of this issue, in one of the beta version of Warcraft, Ji Firepaw used to say “you’re some kind of gorgeous aren’t you?” and in the final version change to ‘you seem poised and confident.’” And the second one seemed to be more political right that the first one; but people are really angry about the change. The problem is some people would like regard the game as a kind of kind of reflection of the real word, and that is the reason why they play it. And, the game producers changed it due to some gender respect issue, and people are out raged. The core of this problem is we are already get used to this kind of gender inequity in the real world, and when is reflect to the Warcraft, and fix it, we feel a kind of uncomfortable, so the solution of it should change it in the social level, clear this kind of terrible social norm in the real life.

In conclusion, this kind of gender inequity in game level is merely a kind of reflection on the real world. And how to fix it should focus more in the real world.

Reference

Marcotte, Amanda. 2015. “Teen Girls Love Video Games, but They’re Really Quiet About It.” Slate, August 18. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/08/18/teen_g irls_play_video_games_but_they_minimize_their_contact_ with_other_players.html.

Braithwaite, Andrea. 2014. “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” New Media & Society 16 (5): 703–18. doi:10.1177/1461444813489503.

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Fans vs. Gamers

While both gamers and fans of television shows and movies have a lot in common, I do believe that they have glaring differences as well. Narine and Grimes’ article clearly states that there is an apparent divide between children and teen gamers. You’re either a delinquent who’s horribly violent (console gamers), or a future cyber-protégée who will change the technology world for the better (PC gamers). Gamer, in all, are stereotyped as being mostly lazy, unhealthy children who have absolutely nothing better to do with their lives. While, on the other end of the spectrum, fans, and more specifically Trekkies, are these apparently psychotic, obsessive people who feel the need to dress up as their favorite character and pay absurd amounts of money on vintage products. If Narine, Grimes, and Nygard were in a room discussing their chosen array of people, they would notice the obvious differences as well.

In Roger Niggard’s film, Trekkies, fans are portrayed as crazy, obnoxious, people who collect massive amounts of unnecessary times. They are stereotyped as being unstable, and, as the root word suggests, fanatic. Trekkies usually choose to cosplay, and out on the streets, you would be able to easily spot out the difference between a gamer, and a Trekkie in costume. While gamers do sometimes frequent conventions, and they may enjoy gathering their friends to conquer a raid, they are mostly individuals who partake in gaming alone. Gamers don’t usually dress up in their favorite characters outfit and parade around in public. While both gamers and fans are stereotyped as being fat, unhygienic losers who could never possibly find someone to love, gamers are usually more backlashed by parents. For some reason, parents automatically equate video games with violence, because if Timmy over there shot that enemy in the game, well then of course he’s going to want to do that in real life right? Some parents would much rather have their child be a hardcore fan of a television show, than a hardcore gamer. In reality, video games are excellent for your hand-eye coordination, and gamers could have the potential to be excellent surgeons. Some parents will do everything in their power to make sure their child doesn’t become this zombie who sits in front of their computer or television and just plays games for hours on end. They equate video games with laziness and stupidity, as if for some reason they could never possibly be a hobby, no, they must be taking over my child’s life!  

All in all, while both gamers and fans have a lot in common, and are sometimes stereotyped the same way, they both have massive differences that even Narine, Grimes, and Nygard would agree on. Gamers are these lazy, unhealthy kids that are either violent and that are going nowhere, or they’re cyber-geniuses who will change the world, and fans are these obsessive, crazy people with no lives. Both fans and gamers face these unnecessary and annoying stereotypes, and we should do everything in our power to stop spreading them.

Trekkies (1997) 

Narine, Neil, and Sara M. Grimes. 2009. “The Turbulent Rise of the ‘Child Gamer’: Public Fears and Corporate Promises in Cinematic and Promotional Depictions of Children’s Digital Play.”

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Looking into the Similarities between Female Gamers and Female Sports Fans: Understanding Gender Inequality in our Society

The stereotyping of women as described by Amanda Marcotte in “Teen Girls Love Videogames, but They’re Really Quiet About it” is the exact same as the stereotyping of women that is being done by the NFL and other popular sports, as described by Shawnee Barton and Alyssa Rosenberg in their articles. In all three articles, one thing is consistent: NFL and videogames in mainstream media are marketed towards one audience – Men. On a daily basis, in both sporting events and videogames, women are stereotyped against solely because of their gender. Many people in society today still judge women for being gamers or sports fans, simply because it is outside the culture norm of what women are “supposed” to like. Instead of real fans, women are viewed as just “products” – people who wear a pink jersey and look pretty because their boyfriends told them to, or people who play videogames just to act like a “fake geek girl.” Today, America is still considered a patriarchy society. Male dominance may be weakening, but there is still not complete equality between sexes in America. Stereotyping against women in videogames and sporting events adds to the idealism that the way women do things is inferior to the way men do them. When did all this women bashing begin?

 In Marcotte’s article, she talks about how girls love to play videogames. On average, 84% of teen boys play videogames while 59% of teen girls play videogames. Even though men predominate in the gaming world, women still make up a large proportion of the gaming community – however, the majority of commercial advertising is marketed towards men and excludes women. Marcotte also talks about how different sexes engage in gaming differently – when teen boys play videogames, it is a social activity; however, for most teen girls gaming is a solitary pursuit. Boys are far more likely than girls to put gaming at the center of their social lives. Approximately 38% of boys share their gaming handle as one of the first three pieces of information exchanged when they meet someone, while just 7% of girls share their gaming handle when meeting new friends. Also, when girls play online games they are far less likely than boys to turn on their mics to talk to other players. Girls shun being seen playing videogames because it is outside the social norm of what girls are supposed to do. Girls also do not turn on their mics as frequently as boys because girls are taught that they need to be protected; people online might “abduct” or “stock” a girl, but will leave a boy alone. Girls also play games as a “low key” activity instead of a social activity because their performance is under scrutiny – any failures are more likely to be blamed on their gender. If a girl exposes her gender online while playing a game, some men might even harass her and call her names, simply because she is a girl.

 Similar to how videogames stereotype against women, sports like the NFL are also directed towards men and exclude women. In their articles, “As a Female NFL Fan, I want a Better Stadium Experience – Not a Pink Jersey” and “The Plight of the Female Sports Fan,” both Shawnee Barton and Alyssa Rosenberg write about how the NFL industry stereotypes against women. Even though many women are sports fans, the majority of sports fans today are still men. Because of this, similar to videogames, commercial advertisements are marketed towards men specifically. Often times, women do not attend NFL games even though they may be die-hard fans. This is because women are discriminated against, (security: clear-bag policy), and many mothers do not feel safe bringing their kids or families to a stadium due to obnoxious, rude, and unpleasant people. Because of this, many female NFL fans enjoy the game with their families at their house on the couch as a “low key” activity. This is the exact same way that teen girls often play videogames – as a solitary event. Due to discrimination, many women and girls alike feel that partaking in more discreet events is safer, and more productive as a whole. In the NFL and videogame industry, women are often seen as “products” and not as real fans. The only time women are present in NFL advertisements are when they are either the “fantasy” girl, or when they are bringing their husband and drunk buddies food and beverages, acting as their personal waitress. This is the same way that women are portrayed in the videogame industry, as casual by-standers, who are not real fans. When women are portrayed like this, it just adds to the negative stereotyping that women can’t possibly be sports fans, or that women can’t enjoy playing videogames in their spare time.

 When women are stereotyped against, it makes women feel uncomfortable and inadequate. Advertising companies in the future need to start including women in a more positive way, showing that women can also be sports fans, or that women can also love videogames – it’s not just a “guy” thing. During NFL sporting events, there needs to be designated sections where “sippy-cup schlepping parents and kids aren’t subject to over-the-top terrorist screenings” and can enter games more easily. In the videogame world, teenage boys need to accept teenage girls more, and understand that both sexes can play the game equally well regardless of gender. When reading the articles, all three authors emphasized how the female gamer and female sports fan populations have grown drastically over the last few years. If women felt more accepted into the gamer/sporting world, the sports and videogame industries would gain much more money, and there would be even more videogame/sports fans.

 Overall, in all three articles the authors expressed how there are many inequalities that women gamers and women sports fans face on a daily basis. These inequalities and stereotypical views need to stop if we are ever going to create a female-friendly fan experience.

 References:

Barton, Shawnee. 2013. “As A Female NFL Fan, I Want A Better Stadium Experience—Not A Pink Jersey”. The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/09/as-a-female-nfl-fan-i-want-a-better-stadium-experience-not-a-pink-jersey/279915/.

Marcotte, Amanda. 2015. “Teen Girls Love Video Games, but They’re Really Quiet About It.” Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/08/18/teen_girls_play_video_games_but_they _minimize_their_contact_with_other_players.html

Rosenberg, Alyssa. 2011. “The Plight Of The Female Sports Fan”. The Atlantic.http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/02/the-plight-of-the-female-sports-fan/70592/.

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WOW, Feminism, and E.L. James

Braithwaite’s article on feminist in the World of Warcraft forums and the case against E.L. James and the fanfiction community have many similarities. In Braithwaite’s article, when feminist ideas or gender politics in general are brought into question the community backlash is astronomical. It can be said that this is because other players are bringing in real world problems into an online community that has a rigorous view on what is the right way to be a part of the community and what is not. It is understood between the players how their community and the forums should work at an unspoken level that when disrupted at all is deemed as negative and receives a scathing backlash. This is similar to the community behind fanfiction in the way their community has been set up to rely on unspoken modes of community conduct that, when broken by someone like E.L. James or other authors that seek monetary gain from their work, they are seen as a lesser fan and ostracized by the fandom at large. These women in WOW are seen as less of a player both because they are bringing light to a women’s issue and possibly because they are women themselves. Reminding people that their stereotypes, especially in games, do not hold true causes a disrupt to the ideals help by the larger community. The stereotype that real gamers are male gamers is used against these women to ostracize them and distance them from the “real” community that is held within these forums. By distancing themselves from the issues and the women themselves the community can continue to utilize the game as they see fit without the interference of so called “feminists”.

What is interesting is that, essentially, these communities both run on a gift economy that allows for the gamers and fans to exchange ideas and thoughts between each other not expecting anything in return. In the cast of the WOW community they are receiving something they receive their payment through a dialogue with other players that follows the unspoken rules of the community. In the case of the “feminist” players, the community does not see this dialogue as a proper mode of payment in their gift economy. This then disrupts their  status quo to the point of hatred, the same as how E.L. James used the fanfiction community to her advantage and caused a disrupt to the gift economy. Their economy relies upon the exchange of stories and ideas as a mode of currency and hits and comments as a form of payments. When E.L. James disrupts this economy by not recognizing this system and using it to her advantage, she essentially ostracizes herself from the community by moving up the social ladder. This is the difference between the two cases as the women in WOW are trying to change their positions within the economy while E.L. James is changing her position by leaving the economy all together.

While Braithwaite’s article and the controversy around E.L. James have many similarities in the economies their communities utilize and the disruption of said economies, they are dissimilar in the way they go about enacting their changes. With E.L. James she ignores her past community to move on up while the WOW players are just trying to get a better game play out of one of their favorite online games. These communities, no matter what the disruption though, seem to always have a negative response to these disruptions to the status quo.

Braithwaite, Andrea. 2014. “‘Seriously, Get Out’: Feminists on the Forums and the War(craft) on Women.” New Media & Society 16 (5): 703–18. doi:10.1177/1461444813489503.

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So who did it?

As a kid, during the process of sitting down and wasting a few hours in front of a computer playing online games, I shared the same thought process as most online gamers. I felt like every other person on the internet hiding behind a username would indefinitely be male. I’ve never stopped to think about where all these conceptions have come about from until recently. The truth is society conditioned me to match video gaming specifically to the male gender. Upon the issue of video games being played by females, articles written by Tracey Lien and Amanda Marcotte attempt to explain surrounding issues such as what society perceives about female gamers and why this negative outlook has come about.

Tracey Lien’s lengthy article immediately starts off by pointing fingers towards strategic marketing. Her point is that ever since the beginning of games, nothing was gender specific. Rather to her, society slowly harbored a male preconception for the default gamer as video games developed.  (Lien 2013) Society now slaps on a nearly gender specific label when they directly cater towards just one specific gender. In history it was never always that way. She states: "There is often truth to stereotypes. But whatever truth there may be, the stereotype does not show the long and complicated path taken to formulate it, spread it and have it come back to shape societal views.” (Lien 2013) Once marketing firms saw that the slight majority of gamers tended to be male, they have created a meta for directing the sales of video games to fit towards a male preconception of women. Ever since then, marketing has followed along this meta, and hasn’t tried to branch out of this preconception of women to better sell a product. Lien’s main point is that society does the female gamer no justice by relaying a preconceived partially sexist image of them in hopes of better product sales.

In Marcotte’s article she lays out numerous statistics which defy our modern conceptions of female gamers. Society puts it out that female gamers tend to be a strict very small minority demographically. (Marcotte 2015) However in all actuality, they aren’t very far off from the half line of all gamers. She states that girl gamers do exist, they just don’t want to be known of, or directly judged based upon gender. Girl gamers in modern day context hold a particular mindset in which they will automatically be associated with poor performance due solely to their gender. (Marcotte 2015) Marcotte shares that statistically a vast portion of girl gamers fall under this mindset, stating: “just 7% of girls share a gaming handle when meeting new friends.” (Marcotte 2015)  In reference to how societal views shifted towards girls not having to do anything with video games, Marcotte also directs this view at the ways games and marketing have developed. She would be quick to agree upon the thoughts and facts asserted in Lien’s article on female exclusion.

Both authors make the point that female gamers are somewhat mistreated. Society today harbors a negative preconception of women in association to video games. Lien’s article stated the basis in which this stereotype was formulated, spread, and put into stone with our societal views. In agreement with Lien’s informant piece, Marcotte throws out further analysis of society’s skewed misconceptions of female gamers. In short, as games have developed and time progressed, we as a society has stuck to keeping a misconception of female gamers. Although these problematic preconceptions weren’t always around, it is up to date a problem that victimizes women.

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